Cornix cornici oculum non effodit
by Graveofthefireflies
Summary: House met another disabled doctor. Is he going to be honest about his problems for once?If you read please review.
1. Alea iacta est

**Disclaimer: **I do not have rights to House and any other character that I have borrowed for the purpose of that story. I don't have any money either so no point dragging me through courts really.

* * *

House took one Vicodin too many and overdone with scotch a bit. Allison has overreacted and there he was in ER waiting for psychiatric evaluation. Door opened and he saw blind women entering the room assessing her way carefully with a white cane.

What the hell is going on!"– House thought looking briefly at the woman.

"I think you got yourself into wrong room."

"I am afraid that it is not so. Doctor House?"- The woman was obviously glad to hear him speak as that helped her to orientate herself within the room and she approached the bed much more confidently.

"Yes, but…"- House was now thinking really hard who she was and what did she want. Was it a kind of a joke or was Wilson trying to prove something to him once again?

"Is there a chair in the room? If you can direct me it will save us both some time"-She interrupted in a rather impatient tone of voice.

"Straight ahead, next to the bed…"- House was observing as the women felt a bit awkwardly the empty space in front of her with outstretched hand- Stop now. Just ahead of you"

She sat down carefully, folded the white cane and put in her pocket.

"I know the way around my own department but I don't pay visit to ER that often.- she sounded a bit apologetic as if she was ashamed of herself being awkward but her voice reigned confidence within a second- I am doctor Robinsky and I came to do your mental status assessment."

"Look I do not need all that. Nice of you to drop by but I want to go home now."- House was having no of that nonsense.

"Lets just get done and over with it. Hospital procedures are clear, you cannot be realised without this examination. We both know it is pointless, I will ask usual questions you will give all the right answers. I will get it signed and hopefully we can avoid admission for the sake of nursing staff upstairs"

"I didn't know my reputation has reached psychiatry department."

"You must be joking. We have been drawing straws on who is going to come here to see you and I am pretty sure that other attendings cheated by taking an advantage of my disability. Shell we begin? ".

"How did you make it through med school?"

"I lost my sight when I was already qualified. Pituitary adenoma, there were complications during surgery as you can guess. I was specializing in internal medicine but switched to psychiatry for practical reasons. Are you satisfied? I have clinic upstairs so let's get cracking with it".

She went to the standard list of questions aimed at assessing mental status of self harming patients following emergency admission and through depression assessment scale.

"For the record you are fine. I am sending you home as I have no formal reason to detain you in here. Off the record you are depressed, dependent on Vicodin, probably borderline alcoholic as well. My professional advice would be to try and sort that out before you hit rock bottom again. With those doses of Vicodin you can expect problems with your liver and kidneys soon, but I don't have to tell you that."

"I gave all the right answers so what are you going on about"- House knew that she was at least partially right in what she was saying but there was no way he was admit to it.

"I can be blind but I am not an idiot. It is not what you say but what you lie about that meters to me"

"So why are you signing me off?"

"As I said there are no formal reasons for detention. If my calculations are correct you would woke up in the morning without major problems. It was just bad luck you were found so sedated and your friend got concerned. You were not trying to kill yourself. If that was the case we would not be speaking now. "

"You haven't based your calculations on the dose written on my chart, have you?"

"If I though that you tell truth to the triage nurse about your usual daily use of Vicodin I should be looking for a job in some different field. I had a look on pharmacy records. If at least one of the doctors in ER cared to look at those records I would not be here. Taking into account your real daily doses instead of going by tox screen it is clear that it was not an OD attempt. Doctor Wilson will get himself into trouble one day over those prescriptions by the way. I can alredy see red flags on the horizon. "

"I am in pain. I thought consent is needed for looking into those records".

"Usually but with psychiatric patients detained for emergency observation that is not longer the case"

"Detained!"

"Relax, as from now you are free to go, I have signed all the papers. There is no way I am having you on my ward against your will. You would just run havoc with the nurses. I could prescribe antidepressants but with all that Vicodin in your system I am reluctant to do so. Would you take them anyway?"

"No"

"That what I thought. We will leave it here. I am going to keep your file in my case load. You are expected to come for a follow up visit in a weak time. If you decide to do so we can discuss some treatment options."

She stood up, unfolded her cane and started walking towards the door.

"I was not as bad as expected, was I?"

"Depends what you mean by bad. You were not violent, not even verbally abusive so in my field you can count as a nice patient. There is nothing I can do for you though, so you are a waste of my time and I find this a bit frustrating"

She left his room and House could hear the conversation taking place just behind the door.

"Excuse me, could you point me towards the elevator"

"It's over there. Are you… I am so sorry. I will take you…"


	2. Nemo sapiens nisi patiens

_What am I doing? I don't really want to talk with her. OK maybe I want but I definitely don't need to._

House was hesitating in front of the door to psychiatric department but finally decided to enter.

"I am here to see doctor Robinsky".

"First office on the left"

House knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an invitation. What he has seen surprised him.

"Excuse me" she said taking her legs from the desk swiftly and switching the TV off. "Who are you?"

"Dr House"

"I am going to fire that receptionist. Please, take a sit"

"I guess she has seen my hospital identification badge and thought it will be ok to let me in"

"She would let anyone in even if they had chain saw with them."

"Do you like soap operas?"

"I have some old favourites" she smiled.

"I would not expect you to…"

"…to enjoy day time TV or television in general? You have to remember that I lost my sight only couple of years ago. It is dialogues that meter anyway."

_Why is she letting me ask about that? Shouldn't she be steering the conversation towards my problems by now. OK, relax. I should see where this conversation goes.. At least I will be able to tell Wilson that I God some help and calm his guilty conscious enough to get me a refill. I think I am running low on magic pills._

At the moment House felt shooting pain going down his leg. He hesitated for a moment and took his tablets out of the pocket as quietly as he could and started to unscrew the bottle.

"Those child proof containers are really annoying, aren't they?"

_Does she just pretend to be blind for God sake?_

"To be honest I am surprised to see you doctor House. Were you forced to come here? If all you need is confirmation that you have attended the follow up visit for your boss or any other party interested in your mental health I am very happy to give you that straight away and let you go."

_She is very to the point, I must admit that._

"You really think that I am beyond help, don't you?"

"Of course not, I like the challenge. But I have one rule: I don't even try to help people who do not want to help themselves."

_I don't need help!_

"I thought that is what psychiatrist should be doing, carrying for people who are too disturbed to ask for help, the insane, you know."

"Because if they ask for help they realize that they are crazy and if they know that they are crazy they must be sane. That is "Catch 22" not the definition of modern psychiatry."

She took a file from the shelf. It was really thick and had House name on it.

"Could I have a look on my notes?"

"Sure. There is no much to them though, file looks thick because it is all in Braille. I will get you printed copy from the computer. Do you want it now?"

"Yes, if you don't mind. How much time have we got for this consultation?"

"As much or as little as you want. My clinic is finished for the day and I don't expect any emergencies on the ward, although in this department you can never be sure"

"Are you always giving your patients so much time?"

"Only if I am interested in the case. You need to remember though that this is not diagnostics, I cannot really on history taken by someone else and test results to make the diagnosis without even seeing the patient."

"Don't you trust your residents to take the history?"

"As if you had a single one on your team. They can make reasonable attempt, well at least most of them. In this field knowing what questions to ask takes a lot of experience though. We usually let them do only initial assessments."

"Why did you come to see me in ER then? It clearly took you some trouble".

"Residents do not interview other doctors, especially about potential suicide attempts."

"Why not?"

"All patients lie but doctors are particularly skilful in it. They know assessment protols and can manipulate residents easily. I am sure you could manoeuvre any of my residents into doing all sort of things apart of getting you into this follow up meeting".

_She is dam right. The question is how she managed to manoeuvre me into coming here and why I haven't left yet._

Voice from the computer filed the room.

"Two folders. Press one for patients, press two for time wasters. Time wasters selected. 10 items. Press one for Suzanne, press two for Gregory. Press …Gregory selected. Enter the password. Password accepted."

"Here you go. It is just admission notes from ER and summary of my assessment. Version for my personal use, ER department got something slightly different so please do not call your lawyer just yet."

"You don't want to talk about yourself. You are not used to that. It is almost as bad as those little pointless conversations people tend to have with each other in the cafeteria, isn't it. But as you are still here I think you may wish to actually have a go on it".

"Is that a moment when I start talking about my troubled childhood?"

"Only if you had one, which I don't think is the case"

"About my sex life?"

"Does it exist?"

"About Vicodin?"

"So it does not exist? Sorry, I guess Vicodin would make a good start"

"I need it for pain and pain only."

"That is the statement for your team, your boss and probably the fitness to practise committee in the nearest future. You can either be honest with me or leave. I don't like to waist my time, remember?"

He stood up and started moving towards the door. He took his file with him.

"Goodbye doctor House. It was nice to meet you."

She reached for the remote control and switched TV back on.


	3. Oderint, dum metuant

**Author notes**: Some people said that they like the story so I thought I may write some more chapters. I have no definite idea what I shell do with House. Let him go through something dramatic like another detox or proper OD? Talking treatment? That could be interesting but I doubt I have sufficient feel of the character to make it sound convincing. Maybe I should just put him on the antidepressants and some proper pain management plan and let him live happily. Any suggestions appreciated. This chapter is much more about Kate (dr Babinsky) then about House so if you enjoy my character you should like reading that. If not you may be disappointed, sorry.

**Warning**: There is a bit of strong language.

House knocked on dr Robinsky's door.

"Come in."

"Your receptionist is not there so…"

"Good morning doctor. I think you are under false impression that I am running a walk in clinic in here, which is not so. Ever heard about appointments?"

"Sorry, I should have known better."

"It's fine. I am free this morning so we can discuss any burning issues you may have but I need to the ward runs first. Care to join me?"

"How long with that take?"

"I am just going to sign off meds so not too long."

_Inpatient ward ha? When they got me in there they are going to lock the door and throw the key away._

"Is that a secure ward where we are going to?"

"No, it's voluntary admissions. Nice and friendly."

The first thing he heard when they entered the ward contradicted her statement a bit.

"You faking bitch. Let me go. You have no faking idea what are you doing!"

"House, who is with that patient?"

"I don't know. Some kid. "

_Where do they keep sedatives in that place? Shell I got the nurse? Na, it can be fun to watch actually. _

She took the cane out of her pocket, unfolded it and approached the bed quickly.

"What is going on in here Mr Smith?"

"That bitch is hurting me."

"I understand however you know that we do not approve this kind of language here. You are loosing two tokens."

"But…"

"Argue with me and I am going to take cigarettes as well. You! What are you doing?"

"I cannot put the cannula in…I am sorry, I will get the nurse or …"

"Go and get a fresh try, on the devil".

"I am not letting that… that inexperienced member of medical profession anywhere near me."

House was trying hard not to laugh.

"I will do it Mr Smith"

"Thenx doc"

"I have got the try. Shell I find a nurse or resident now?"

"No, you shell give me a hand. Pass on gloves."

"But"

"I will give you a piece of advice. When attending and particularly the head of department you work in tells you to do something there are no buts. You may disagree but you do not disobey unless you can explain that in front of disciplinary committee. Gloves, please. "

House giggled seeing student's jaw drop slightly in disbelief. She was looking at him hoping for the rescue.

"Do you want me to do it?"

"Would you like a wheelchair for the duration of our little tour?"

"Point taken. Why are you staring at me kid? You heard doctor's orders."

"We will go for the back of the hand as usual. Is that fine Mr Smith? You, what's your name?"

"Stacy".

"Can I have alcohol swab and cannula, Stacy?"

"It's all done Mr Smith. Now Stacy, get rid off the needle. Yellow sharp's container notthe ordinarybin, please. Try not to mislabel the samples when you send them off"

Stacy burst in tears.

"Stacy, crying is good way to releases tension, do it in privet though not in front of the patients. Just remember the take home massage from my little performance in here, which is that when you search for the vain you have much better chance in succeeding if you feel for it not look for it. Finish with those samples and go make friends with nurses, they have big box of chocolates hidden at the station.

"You have been heard on her".

"She can break in tears in front of me, it is safe. If she does that in front of a patient passive or verbal aggression may turn into physical abuse. She is not going to learn much psychiatry over this couple of weeks but I want her to know how to control her own emotions and hopefully discover that people who are mean to others tend to be either scared or actually care a lot just have original way of showing it."

"Which category do you fall in?"

"Bit of both. You?"

"I don't care so I guess the first one."

"Liar."

"None wears white coats around here. How do you tell difference between doctors and patients?"

"It comes with experience but you may wish to keep that hospital identification badge handy. Seriously though the number of times new nurses tried to drag me to the patients lounge is ridiculous. "

"Talking about nurses, they are looking at us"

"That explains cold chills going down my spine."

They moved towards the nursing station.

"Good morning Kate"

"Hi Gloria, that is my colleague dr House"

Strange expression of surprise, fear and disgust appeared on Gloria's face"

"So how was the night, everything alright."

"Yes, doctor".

"Excellent, I noticed there are some new students around. Could you keep an eye on Stacy? I have upset her."

"Already? She is crying in the toilet but I assumed it was because of the patient."

"Mr Smith lost two tokens. Don't let Stacy near him, I don't need him further agitated before group session. Can you get one of the other students to ran it by the way?"

"Do you want to break them all on the first day?"

"Sometimes you need to break to be able to remodel. I will be in my office if need be."

"What was that about?"

"What was what?"

"The nurse, when you introduced me she looked at me in this sort of way…"

"I don't know. You are either getting paranoid or she has some friends in ICU, surgery, rehab or whatever unit you have been treated in for your infarction. I guess she thought you are here to stay."

"Do you think I should stay?"

"No. Do you feel like you need to."

House said nothing.

"Lets go my office shell we?"


	4. Difficile est satirian non scribere

**Author's note:** I am still thinking in which direction this story should move. This chapter is not particularly clever or realistic and brings nothing new. I was basically having some fun to distress after my exam. I try to add some descriptive narrative to my story as I know it is important but I am not very confident about it so please bare with me.

Kate was sitting in her office listening to Wagner and typing up some notes. It was quarter to seven and she was looking forward to go home and have dinner with her daughter. When telephone rang she was really tempted to pretend that she was not there but then thought that it could be the babysitter and picked up.

"Hello, dr Robinsky speaking."

"Hello. My name is dr Wilson. I am…"

"I have a vogue idea of who you are. What kind of service can I offer to the oncology department outside of my normal office hours?"

"It is about dr House, I know he has been seeing you recently and we have a bit of a problem with him now so I thought you could help."

"Could you be a bit more explicit?"

"He locked himself in the office and won't come out."

"Yea, I get this kind of problem with my 5 years old daughter sometimes. It is very annoying, I must admit, but it never crossed my mind that I should call a psychiatrist for a consult because of it."

"He hadn't spoken a word for hours. I am getting worried."

"Worried that he had an OD on thehydrocodone that you so genorously prescribe?."

"Are you criticizing the way I prescribe?"

"Don't get defensive. I am prescribing dangerous drugs to suicidal and unstable people every day. Treat it as a subconscious projection of my own worries rather then open criticism. If you are so concerned, why don't you simply force the door open anyway."

"I would like to avoid that."

"Maintenance costs? Wait until I send you a bill for an out of hours consultation."

"Don't you understand…?"

"OK, ok I will come in a minute. You people can be persuasive."

Kate got of the elevator and started to wonder how is she going to find the right office. She was not even sure if she was on the right floor.

"I bet there are signs all over this place. What a shame I cannot see any." -she said to herself as she was walking along the corridor. Then she heard some voices in the distance that made her smile. Wilson reminded Kate of her husband trying to get Melissa out of the bedroom with alternating bribery and shouting.

"Open that dam door! Come on, I will get you a month without clinic duty."

"Excuse me are you lost, asked Wilson when he noticed a blind woman walking slowly along the corridor.

"Not any more. I see there is no progress, dr Wilson"

"Dr Robinky? I am sorry, I did not expect…"

Kate decided to ignore Wilson. She knew he was too polite to ask any questions about her disability but the sole idea of how staggering it was for him make her sad, uncomfortable and a bit angry at the same time.

"Dr House, would you mind opening the door for a second so that your friend can ensure himself that you are not dead?"

Kate felt Wilson's hand on her arm. She could also almost feel the look he gave her.

"What? That is what you want to know, isn't. Just wait a second, I will be right back".

Kate went far enough to avoid being heard.

"Maintenance? Hi, could I speak with Bob, please? Tell him it's Kate…"

Kate returned to Wilson and stand quietly against the wall. She put a fingerto her lips.

"Just wait a second" she whispered.

Second later fire alarm sounded and door to House office opened abruptly.

"What the hell is going on in here?" -he shouted as he limped out of his office somewhat struggling to get his balance right.

"Attention all staff! It was a false alarm caused by brief malfunction of fire detection systems. You are in no danger. I repeat it was a false alarm" – announce voice from PA

"You havedone that?" – Wilson was shocked but he wanted to laugh at the same time.

House was leaning heavily against the wall. Kate could smell the alcohol clearly.

"In my field you need to be creative sometimes. I am sorry about that dr House, he made me do it."- said Kate pointing towards Wilson. "Goodnight."

Kate unfolded her cane and started walking quickly towards the elevator.

"Wait!" She could hear Wilson going after her but she did not stop until she reached the elevator.

"What do you want?"

"Aren't you going to talk with him?"

"You wanted him out of the room. Mission accomplished. Unlile you people I have some life outside my practise, so if you excuse me I would like to go back home to my family."

"Haven't you seen what the state is hein?"

"Well, I haven't actually. Yea, I know it is just a figure of speech. Look, if he wants to talk with me he knows the way to my office. He is way to clever for all my little traps I normally set up if I want to get the truth out of people so all I can do is wait until he is ready to share it with me. I hope you understand. Now I really need to go, my daughter has prepared dinner for me and I would hate to disappoint her."


	5. Primum non nocere

**Author's note:** This chapter is quite long. I think it can be a bit boring as well. I can see there are quite a lot of people still reading this story, which I am very happy about. If you have read it please review. Feel free to flame, just not about spelling or grammar as that was covered sufficiently. I would like to hear some opinions about the plot and Kate's character. So enjoy the story and then press that little review button and make my day ;).

House woke up in the morning in his office. Sleeping in the chair left him with massive cramp in his leg and on top of that he had the worst hangover ever. He started to think intensively about what had happened last night and what he should do now. He popped a Vicodin and decided to look for some coffee. After having a double espresso in the cafeteria and couple more Vicodins he decided that he was fit to drive and went back to his apartment to take a shower and change his clothes. He could not let Lisa see him like that or she would never stop going on about it. After returning to hospital around noon he went straight to doctor Robinsky's office. This time he did not even bother to knock.

"What the hall was all that about yesterday" -he yield making Kate jump.

"Dr House, care to join me for lunch or for you breakfast rather, I should think" asked Kate offering him a bag of resins with a polite smile.

"Answer my question!"

„Stop yelling, please. I have sensitive hearing. You can tell me what was all that about."

"You must be joking! You have activated fire alarm in the whole wing just to get me out of my office. Are you insane?"

"Statistically it is quite likely. Psychiatrists seem to suffer from mental disorders more often then general population… But no, I don't think so."

"So what the hell got over you?"

"I don't think you are exactly the person that can criticize someone for not going by the book. If you weren't driving your friend crazy when he just tried to help then I would not have to come and use such drastic measures."

"That is the problem. Everyone wants to help me. Constantly! I am a cripple so I must need help! I don't need any!"

"Why have you been coming here for the last couple of weeks then?"

House stood up and started to walk to the door. He suddenly felt very insecure and wanted to get back to his office. Just hide as he always did. He could hide behind sarcasm, passive aggression and arrogance. It worked well to keep people away. But she was different, no meter what he said she would just say something back, something equally sarcastic. She was not aggressive though, he knew that she was reaching out to him and he suddenly felt that she may soon succeed. That scared him a lot.

"House, wait. Why are you so scared to admit for once that you need help? We both know that you are starting to loose control."

House stopped. He knew she was right. He was always depressed but recently this feeling started to get worse and worse. He was finding it difficult to concentrate on his work, getting out of bad in the morning seemed like impossible struggle. He would never admit that to anyone though. Now he had a chance to get some help. He didn't have to admit. She already knew. Her intuition told her much more then he would have ever imagined someone could get to know about patient without conducting a search after breaking in to the house. As he hated to admit she was scaring him. She wasn't like Lisa. No meter what he did she was not getting angry, not even annoyed. She did not feel pity for him either. She went through a lot herself, she was sympathetic because she understood and that was something difficult to accept. He turned back and sat down again.

"Ok, help me then."

That was something she did not really expect to happen. She was wishing for it but not expecting, not so soon. She was glad that she finally managed to break through the wall but at same time a bit apprehensive about what she was going to find on the other side. She was quite for a minute thinking intensely about her next move. If she was to screw it up chances that he was going to look for help somewhere else were minimal.

"Come on, say something. It is what you wanted to hear since you met me in ER, isn't it "- he said with usual sarcastic tone.

"If you think that I have Florence Nightingale's syndrome then you are mistaken. Nothing gets woman out of that quicker then actually becoming a doctor. I am thinking what I should do with you know. I want to help but you are not going to be an easy patient."

"I though you like the challenge" – House said quietly as he suddenly felt sad for some reason.

"I do and there is going plenty of that for both of us and knowing you probably for the rest of that hospital as well."

"Can't you just give me some happy pills, Prozac or something?"

"Prozac is a definitive no, no."

"And why is that"

"Because of the Coumadin you take. Fluoxetine on its own tends to predispose to haemorrhages plus it binds to plasma proteins causing shift in warfarin concentrations… you get my point."

House was a bit surprised. He always thought about psychiatrists as a bunch of hand holders, who fed their patients with pills without any actual knowledge of the biochemical mechanisms of their actions.

"No pills then?"

"I haven't said that. I will do some research and check what I can prescribe taking into account all that Vicodin. I have some concerns though. I know that you pop on your pills as if they were candies but I am confident that you know what you are doing and cannot OD on those unless on purpose. You have little experience with psychiatric medication though so please no experiments. You need to stick to the dose prescribed. I need to know how much Vicodin you actually take and I mean for real. If you get yourself to ER again this time there will be my name on that prescription not dr Wilson 's and I don't need trouble. Are we clear on this one?"

"80 mg, 90 sometimes…"

"That seems to be a bit much. Is there a chance you could lower that to lets say 50?"

"I tried once…"

"I heard something about that. I am not asking you to quit all together cold turkey. All I want you to do is lower the dose gradually. I don't want you to go through withdrawal or be in pain so if it does not work we will leave it as it is. All I am asking from you is a little reduction."

"Do you want to see how committed I am?"

"No, I want to be able to prescribe you medication without risking messing up your liver totally. You can see though how committed you are to the idea of making some changes in your life this way, I guess. Another suggestion, talk with Wilson. He is an oncologist so he will be able to advice you on good pain management clinic. I am feeling really sorry for any psychotherapist that could be forced to work with you but it is worth having a go at."

"Is that it?"

"For now yes. Any other patient I would send off for talking therapy before even starting meds but I am not so sure it is going to work for you at this stage."

"Send off?"

"Yea, I can prescribe drugs and I can prescribe talking as well. I cannot do everything my self so I have a team, just as you do. Lidia, she is the therapist, usually do most of the work with patients. She is young, cheerful kind of girl though and I have a feeling that you would eat her alive before she knew it. All other attendings already told me that if I ever need any help with your case I will have to look outside the town so there is none I can send you to at the moment."

House was relieved to hear that. He could imagine talking with Kate about some of his problems, not all but at least some. There was no way he was going to have even a single word with Lidia.

"Ok, so can we agree that you are going to lower your intake to 60mg by the end of this weak? I am going to phone dr Wilson and ask him to prescribe accordingly. I bet he fears you much more then me so you can still get around that if you need. I don't want to control you, by the way. That is something impossible. All I want from you is to call me if you need more then 60 mgand tell me. We are not going to discuss the mater, it is your pain and not mine business but I need to know "

"Fine."

House left Kate's office feeling scared and relieved at the same time. He knew that cutting down on the Vicodin to the suggested does is not going to give him withdrawal. Probably a bit of pain, maybe some tremors or other light discomfort but the memories of detox he put himself through only a couple of months ago were fresh in his mind. She was going to talk with Wilson. He was not sure what to think about it. He did not protest as he knew that knowing that he is actually seeking some help was going to make Wilson happy but a thought that he might have start asking questions about it make House feel rather uncomfortable.


	6. Bona fide

Dr Foreman was worried about House. That was something new for him. It was usually Wilson's and Cameron's job to worry. He figured it out quickly that House was lowering his Vicodin intake as he did not seam to be popping on the pills constantly as he used to. He could also not pretend that he had missed the fact that House was looking at the clock every five minutes waiting for those 4 hours to pass so that he could take another pill. It continued for the second weak now. What was even more worrying was the physical symptoms. Sweating and trembling made Foreman sure that House is going through another withdrawal and he was not going to let this jeopardise the case they were working on. This psychiatrist was not good what so ever. Over the last weak House just became more sad then he has ever been. Not angry but actually sad, that was really starting to freak Foreman out. He finely decided to take some action and know was knocking on dr Robinsky's door. He was a bit taken a back seeing her lying on the floor in the office listening to music.

"Excuse me; I am looking for dr Robinsky."

"I knew that hiding behind the door with my name on it is not going to take me far."

"I'm dr Foreman…"

"Let me guess. You are not here to discuss psychiatric implications of neurological disorder in one of your patients. You want to talk about dr House." – said Kate getting herself from the floor slowly and switching the music off.

"Yes. I was…"

"If I didn't know better I would start wondering by now why someone with so many devoted friends needs a shrink to talk to. You realise that I should not be discussing his case with you?"

"I am concerned with his physical well being."

"Physical? That is something new. Would you like to expand on this one?"

"He is an addict and he is going through another withdrawal. Sweating, trembling…"

"He is not an addict and those are not withdrawal symptoms."

"What are you talking about? He needs to take drugs every day, isn't that a definition of an addict per se? "

"I don't do privet tuition, I'm afraid. You may either come to one of my lectures or pick up that big, fat book from the shelf next to you: "Response to substance misuse". Read the chapter on differences between addiction, pseudo-addiction and dependency. It can be very alighting to you."

"He almost fell over when he stood up on couple of occasions. He has actually fainted yesterday, for God sake. Don't tell me that this is not a reason for concern."- Foreman was starting to get really annoyed with Kate and he was not even trying to hide it.

"Actually it is not. Ever heard about orthostatic hypotension? Common side effect. Just remind him to take it easy when he is changing position. You may wish to run for cover after doing so though." – Kate smiled faintly.

"It is common side effect of what?"

"You caught me. If I don't tell you are you going to break into his house and go over the drug cabinet?"

"I my consider doing so."

"I am very disappointed by your luck of trust. Citalopram, does that fit into the puzzle?"

"Since when are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors the first point off call in treating depressive disorder?"

"Gi, so many big words… They have become my first point of call since I was blessed with a patient taking Vicodin, Coumadin and probably alcohol at the same time as happy pills I prescribe."

"It is causing side effects and that is about all what it does. He has not become any happier since you put him on this drug and his work suffers."

"I thought about suggestingshort holidaysbut helives alone and this drug can cause suicidal tendencies at the begging of the treatment so I guessed I my better keep him safe for must part of the day in hospital. "

"Are you joking me?"

"I am famous for my sense of humour but I am serious now. Look, if you have any better treatment ideas I am more then happy to listen. I don't know what you think about psychiatrists in general but you can be reassured that I have actually gave it a long and careful thought before I have prescribed that stuff to him. Give it another weak or two and it should kick in. I am sure that you are aware that antidepressants can take quite a long time to become effective. In the mean time try to make sure that he eats regularly and that should get rid of sweating and tremors."

"Hypoglycaemia?"

"You see, you can be such a fantastic diagnostician if you do not go for what you think is obvious straight ahead. Now you have to excuse me, my clinic starts in fifteen minutes. If dr Cameron wants to pay a visit as well could you suggest that she makes an appointment? Despite what you lot may think I am not to the sole disposition of dr House and need to see some other patients as well from time to time."


	7. Satis verborum

**Author's note:** This chapter is quite short. Thanks for reviews, I am really happy to know that you are enjoying this story so keep them coming :). Well done Deichtine for spotting my mistake. Knowing that someone pays attention to details when reading my story will keep me on my tip toes.

House was still angry with Foreman. He expected him to go behind his back to see Kate sooner or later as his behaviour was getting more and more erratic but it still made him angry. He didn't need them to check up on him or mother him. It was quite late so he was not sure if cate were still in her office. Receptionist was not there any more so he went streight to Kate's room.

„Can I come in?"

„Sure. You picked up a good time actually. Help me with this one" – Kate handed House a piece of paper.

"What's that?"

"I don't know. Someone left a letter for me. Probably one of my students. What does it say?"

"It's from Tom Widelman. He asks if you could reconsider his semester evaluation."

"I think that I may send him a replay in Braille, just to make him look for someone to read it out. What can I do for you? "

"Foreman came to visit you today. I would like to know what you told him."

"Why do I feel like I should call my lawyer before answering this question? I haven't told him anything that he could not find himself. One way or another. Is he going to check on me on regular basis by the way?"

"Are you annoyed? That would be something new."

"I am not annoyed. It is normal for kids to get worried when important authority figure in their lives is experiencing problems. I am used to dealing with concerned relatives, although they rarely try to prove to me that they know more psychiatry then I do."

"I have a feeling that you have showed him his place."- House said ironically.

"I had no intention to do so."

"Yea, right. Did Cameron pay a visit as well?"

"She did, but we haven't spoken about you really so that is not of your business."

"Now you are making it interesting. Did she come here to cry about how badly I treat her or about that girl with cancer she recently made friends with?"

"Neither and both. If you want to know you should ask her."

"Fine."

House stood up and left shutting the door on his way out so loudly that it made Kate jump.

_Great. He is getting really irritable now. I am not doing very well in here. _


	8. Amnicus certus in re incerta cernitur

**Autor's note:** I am not sure about the direction this story is going into. Critical rewievs appraciated as always.

Wilson was glad that House finally decided to get some help. He was surprised and worried at the same time though. How many times did he ask House to go and get some help? It never worked so why now? He realised that it was rather unrealistic but he hoped that when House finely decided to get help everything would get better straight away. He did not expect it to be so difficult. House did not seem to react to the medication well so far. He was getting more and more depressed and irritable. He used to suffer from insomnia before but now it seemed like he had hardly any sleep at all for the past weak.

Kate asked Wilson if he keep an eye on him just in case. Now Wilson was on the way to check on House. He called four times in last half an hour, left a massage and got no response what so ever. He had been imagining all sorts of terrible things that could have possibly happened and regretting that he didn't just move in with House for time being. He was sure that his wife would not mind. They weren't talking to each other anyway. He opened the door to the apartment and walked in calling House name. He found him in the kitchen, sitting on the floor next to a broken class and watching blood oozing steadily from his hand.

"Greg, what the hell are you doing?"

"I have cut myself. It does not clot. Must be warfarin, you recon?"

"Why you didn't put some pressure on it?" – Wilson was really concerned. Not about the injury, it was relatively superficial, but rather about House's reaction to it. He was wondering whether House did it on purpose but it made no sense. If he tried to kill himself he would know better then that.

"I just couldn't be bothered. What do you want anyway? Just leave me alone! You don't need to check on me all the time!"

"Yea, I can clearly see that this is unnecessarily."

Wilson applied pressure to the wound until it finally stopped bleeding. He then went to the drug cabinet and counted Vicodin and Citalopram tablets, just in case. When he returned to the kitchen House was still on the floor like he left him. Wilson considered taking House to ER but decided against it. House was in no immediate danger and it was not worth fighting to get him there in first place and then all that lying and forms feeling that he would have to do.

"I will put a dressing on and you are all sorted. There is no need for stitches. Could you tell me what has happened in here."

"Glass broke and I cut myself. End of story."

"You have been bleeding quite heavily, why you didn't call for help?"

"I didn't want any… You always must spoil everything… Just go and leave me alone!"

Wilson was not sure how he should react to that.

"You cannot spend the night in here. Get yourself to bed and I will clean that mess. Your cleaner is going to get a heart attack if she gets to see all that blood in the morning."

Wilson put a chair in front of House and watched him pull himself up from the floor. He was standing close enough to support him if need be but did not offer any help. He didn't want to start another argument.

"What have you been doing with that glass anyway?"

"Is that so hard to guess. I wanted a drink."

"Go and lie down and I will bring you some water."

"You don't have to mother me for God sake!"

"Stop behaving like a child then."

When Wilson finally managed to get House to bed and clean mess in the kitchen it was almost 3 am. He decided to page Kate anyway and just hoped that she was going to understand.


	9. Dulcis est somnus operanti

Kate didn't really want to open her eyes. After the fifth ring tone she realised though that her daughter was going to wake up sooner then the person on the other end of the line was going to give up.

„Dr Robinsky."

„It's Wilson. I am sorry to call so late but your pager is switched off."

"At least you realise what sort of silly hour it is. My pager is switched off for good reason, namely I am not on duty so it better be good."

"House cut himself on a broken class… It's only superficial but what worries me is fact that he was just sitting there watching himself bleed for good half an hour without any intention to get help. I am not sure what I should be thinking. Wound itself fits with the story he told me and I would think that if he really intended to kill himself he would go for an OD or at least cut properly but..."

"You people have no shame. What gave you the impression that you can call me at any time of day or night for God sake?"

"I was under impression that you treat House a bit differently then yours other patients. Was I mistaken?"

"You caught me there. I am surprised to such length I have gone already to accommodate House. I guess the reason being that I can identify with him more then with my usual patients. I need to draw a line somewhere though so I hope you are not expecting home visits. "

"I just need some advice. Should I talk with him about what happened?"

"Leave it unless he comes to you first, which I doubt is going to happen. Can you stay with him until morning?"

"Yes of course."

"My working theory for the time being is that he has suicidal feelings but he is too depressed to actively commit suicide. He has cut himself on that glass accidentally so I don't think he is going to cause you any more trouble."

"How you can possibly be too depressed to commit suicide?"

"It requires planning and motivation… I don't think it is the best time for a lecture, do you?."

"I doubt that Citalopram is doing him much good. It is third weak he is on it and things are just getting progressively worse."

"I know. It is considered good practise to wait for up to five weeks before declaring treatment ineffective and moving onto something else but I think I am convinced now that we are getting nowhere here. I am going to try with tricyclic antidepressants. They do not interact with SSRIs so I can put him on them straight away."

"Tricyclic antidepressants are the oldest class available, aren't they?"

"They are but they have an added bonus to them, which makes them more worth giving a try then some of the new stuff. They proved to be good adjuvant analgesics in treatment of naturopathic pain. House doesn't take histamines, Sotalol or any other medication that prolong Q-T interval, does he?"

"I don't think so."

"Double check. Can you prescribe trimipramine? 75mg a day in three doses starting from tomorrow."

"Why do you want me to prescribe? Aren't you going to see him?"

"My next clinic is on Monday. There is not much I can do anyway apart of writing up the prescription, which I know you are very capable of. I can always arrange for an emergency admission but it will be better if he stays at his own place. If you get worried give me a call. "

"Thank you dr Robinsky, I really appreciate your help."

"Good luck."


	10. Extremis malis, extrema remedia

AN: Especially for harlequin989. I was tempted to say „Google it!" but I must agree that it is not easy to find translation into English so here it comes (it is general meaning rather then literate translation).

Alea iacta est- The die is cast. (meaning that something important is about to begin)

Nemo sapiens nisi patiens- you are not clever if you are not patient

Oderint, dum metuant- they can hate as long as they obey, respect

Difficile est satirian non scribere- it is difficult not to write a comedy

Primum non nocere- that is classic, first do no harm

Bona fide- with good intentions

Satis verborum- enough said

Amnicus certus in re incerta cernitur- reliable friend in uncertain situation

Dulcis est somnus operanti- people who work hard enjoy their sleep

Extremis malis, extrema remedia- serious problems require extreme solutions

They are a bit random (I know only that many Latin proverbs) but I hope you can see some connections between titles and chapters.

* * *

Wilson was trying to convince House to go and talk with Kate the whole Monday morning. House had no problems with changing the medication but insisted that as he already had the prescription there is nothing more Kate could do for him. Finally Wilson decided to page Kate and ask if she could see House in his own office. She was quite reluctant to do so but finally agreed to drop in when her clinic finished.

Kate knocked repeatedly and hearing no response tried if the door was locked. To her surprise it was not. She walked inside calling dr House. At first she thought that the room is empty but as she heard regular breathing sounds coming from the corner she realised that House was in there fast asleep. She started walking towards him triping over a bottle left in the middle of the floor.

"Setting traps? That's a bit unfair, don't you think? House, wake up. We really need to talk for a second."

There was no response and as Kate leaned over House to shake him awake she felt strong smell of alcohol. Finding him to be a bit bradycardic Kate instinctively reached to House's pocket and counted Vicodin tablets. She was glad to find that he actually used less then she expected to be taken for pain relieve. Trimipramine must have been already having some effect. Kate put House in recovery position, just to be on safe side and paged Wilson.

"What the hell is going on in here? Did he…?"

"Did you tell him that I was coming?"

"Yes."

"Then this is a very clear -I don't want to talk with you and you cannot force me- sort of massage."

"He is properly sedated. How much Vicodin has he taken?" – asked Wilson after finishing checking pupil reactions with his pan torch, the only obs he knew Kate haven't taken.

"Not that many. It's trimipramine interacting with alcohol. I will make note for the nurse upstairs to check his obs regularly but he should be out of it in a couple of hours."

"Are you admitting him? Is that supposed to be some sort of punishment for pissing you off?"

"I must be Mother Theresa for such a desire not to be present at the back of my mind at the moment but my main intention is to give you some time off. I believe you have family so wouldn't you like to spend the night in your own home for a change?"

"Well yes but admitting him on psychiatric ward is rather extreme, don't you think? How long are you intending to keep him there?"

"Law gives me 72 hours but I hope I will be able to let him go in the morning. "

"He is going to kick off big time when he wakes up, you know it?"

"I can imagine… I am on call tonight, which means I have babysitter for Melissa anyway and I can stay in hospital to explain things to him and protect my own staff if need be. I will go upstairs and send someone to bring him over.


	11. Inter malleum et incudem

Kate was sitting at the nursing station enjoying a cup of tea, box of Quality Street and some random gossip looking from time to time on the screen showing House still fast asleep in the side room. Kate was always trying hard to have friends among the nurses as she needed much more assistance from them then other doctors and she was painfully aware of it. She was a bit worried how they are going to react to House's admission taking his reputation among nurses but they were very professional about it.

"I think he is waking up. Do you want me to go?"

"That's very brave of you Gloria but I will deal with that myself. Keep an eye on that screen and send some back up if need be." – Kate smiled and put some chocolates in the pocket on her way out.

House opened his eyes, closed and opened again. He sat up in alarm realising that he is not in his office but in some rather bare room that he had never seen before. He had a massive headache and could feel pain in the tight slowly creeping in. He reached to his pocket to take a Vicodin but it was not there. Realising that his tablets ware missing made him suddenly much more aware of the pain. He started to feel a bit panicky when he heard the door open. It was a relieve to see familiar face but he did not let that show.

"What is that place? Don't tell me that you have admitted me against my will. We both know that you have no grounds for that."

"We know but in the alternative universe that I have created for your hospital records you have made two suicidal attempts in the past few days, which allows me to detain you for observation."

"You won't dare!"

"I already did. Will you calm down and listen for a second?"

"I am very calm! Just let me out of here!"

"I am going to keep you in until morning just to make sure you are alright and give your usual babysitter a break. Treat it like a mini holiday. We even have room service, press the buzzer and I am sure nurses are going to be more then happy to help."

"I cannot believe you locked me up!"

"You are not entirely locked up. Room is open, you can go out when you want, just try not to annoy other patients."

"I don't like it in here and my leg hurts."

Kate took out Vicodin container out of her pocket and handed it to House. After he took the tablet she outstretched her hand waiting for it to be handed back.

"I'm sorry but you cannot be on suicide watch and self medicate at the same time. I need to maintain my credibility around here. I put Vicodin in your chart as ad lib so all you need to do is call the nurse. They are going to bring it to you without any questions. Are you hungry?"

"Not particularly?"

"Do you want a chocolate?"

"Have you got caramel ones?"

"Maybe. Take your pick." – Kate reached to her pocket and showed House selection of Quality streets. They heard door open again as medical student entered the room looking rather apprehensive.

"I need to take obs…"

"Are you being abused by the nurses? It's ok to say no if they make you do their job."

" I need to practise. I can come later though." -Kate could hear hope in girl's voice and that make her smile faintly. She was wondering what nurses told that poor girl about House.

"Let's just have it done and over with." – House said with a note of resignation in his voice.

"Do you want some chocolate?" – House handed a sweet to totally astonished student. Nurses warned her that all she should expect was verbal abuse, now she was sure that this guy must have multiple personalities or something of that sort.

"You see, you can be nice too people if you want to. May I just point out that she does not have sufficient authorization to open the front door?"

"Dam it!" – House handed the hospital swipe card back to the astonished student who had no idea when did he managed to get it out of her pocket.

"So how are we doing with those obs?" – Kate asked in a friendly tone of voice.

"Pulse 60, respiratory rate 36…"

"Which indicates?"- House interrupted

"Hyperventilation?"

"Yes. Do I look to you as if I am hyperventilating?"

"No, not really."

"So what have you screwed up?"

"Excuse me?"

"You should count each rise and fall cycle as one respiration."

"Are you a doctor?"- student looked at House not even trying to hide her surprise

"Still holding to my licence. Not sure for how long though."

Student finished the rest of observations, made note in the chart and left Kate and House to continue with their conversation.

"You see, if you are bored you can always do some bedside teaching."

"Can we be serious for a moment?"

"I think I should sit down for that." – Kate dragged a chair from the corner of the room and sat next to the bed.

"What do you want me to do in here?"

"It's middle of the night but I guess you had enough sleep. Just pretend it's your clinic duty, stay away from patients and play gameboy. You can go on the ward whenever you want; nurses are having soap opera and chocolate marathon at the station as usual around this time if you care to join. "

"I didn't know you work nights."

"I am on call but with you in hare I was sure that they are going to drag me back to the hospital anyway so I just decided to stay."

"How did Wilson react to all that?"

"He was… I think concerned is the best word. Ask him when he comes to pick you up in the morning. I bet he will be very happy to share that with you."

"Are you really going to let me go in the morning?"

"What are you worried about? That I am going to lock you up in here for good or what are you going to do when you go back home?"

"Both."

"Could you be a bit more explicit about that?"

"I cannot even imagine being locked up. I am not crazy, I don't need to be here and you know it. But if I go home something my happen like on Saturday night and then… I don't know."

"Can you tell me something more about what has happened on that Saturday evening?"

"No!"

"When you have been drinking today, why was that?"

"I don't know."

"Was it just to avoid talking with me or was there some other reason initially."

"There was but then I noticed that I am gutting drank really fast and that could be a good way of getting out of talking with you. I would never think that I am going to end up in here though.

"Bad luck isn't it. Have you been feeling in similar way as on Saturday after we have discontinued Citalopram?"

"No"

"So why are you afraid to go back home?"

"I don't know. I may feel like that again. I don't feel very good right now anyway. Better but not entirely normal. "

"So you don't want to stay in here and you are concerned that if I let you home you are not going to be entirely safe there. Is that right? "

House was thinking about what Kate just said. It was right but was it safe to admit it? He was not sure whether he should trust her. He locked him up on inpatient ward after all. But what else he could do? Expect Wilson to stay again? He probably would but there are problems in his marriage already, House didn't want to make the situation worse by keeping him away from home night after night. He would never admit to Foreman or God forbids Cameron that he needed someone to stay over. Lisa? He didn't really want her to see him that way. Should he just keep ordering pizza all night and talk with delivery people? That would be costly and not very practical. "

"House are you there?"

"I don't want to stay in here. It's too boring."

"There is way around it. Leave in the morning but when you finish work instead of going back home come and spend night in here. With your normal hospital pass you will be able to come in and out whenever you want. I will let you self medicate with Vicodin, staff will just administer trimipramine. No obs, no hassle, we can even get you TV into that room. What do you think about that?"

Kate was sitting on the chair stiff waiting for a response. She was of course able to detain House against his will for as long as she felt necessary to keep him safe but that was something she really didn't want to do. It would jeopardize all the hard work she put in to get that bit of trust from House. If she let him go after what she has heard today she would be breaching her duty of care and taking the full responsibility for what could happen to House outside the unit.

"I guess we can do it that way. Just make sure that TV is at least 21 inches."

"Deal."


	12. Damnat quod non intelligunt

Kate was standing in the hospital cafeteria wondering where she could sit down. The place sounded very busy and it was doubtful that she could find a free table. She decided that it will be easier to have her lunch in the office and turned towards the door when she heard familiar voice calling her name.

"Dr Robinsky. Would you like to join me for lunch?"

"Hi Wilson. I suppose I would." – Kate smiled and made a gesture to suggest Wilson take her by the arm but he didn't move.

"It's really busy around here and I would hate to bump into someone with a try full of food so if you could grab my elbow and steer me in the right direction it would be nice."

"I'm sorry I do not have much experience with…" – Wilson felt awkward and went quiet.

"…blind people? It's ok to say it. You are extra vigilant about how I am going to react if you offer a hand but don't worry I won't bite. Unlike House I have no problems admitting when I need help and accepting it even from total strangers."

"Ok, lets go then." – Wilson took Kate by her hand and guided her to the table.

"We are going to talk House I suppose." – Kate sighted pouring dressing over her salad.

"And what else. I have just found out that you made him admit himself to the unit. Don't you think it's a bit over the top?"

"No I don't. Could you pass me some salt?"

Kate knew that Wilson was concerned about House as was rest of the team but she sometimes couldn't help thinking that they do not trust her judgment and check on her every step. "A little touch of paranoia comes with the job"- she thought smiling to herself.

"Could I know the reason why? I am technically his physician so…"

"…so I technically cannot hide behind confidentiality rules?"

"Exactly. I am not sure if locking him up is going to solve any of his problems."

"It is not designed to solve problems just to keep him out of further trouble."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When you called me in the middle of the night on Saturday, why was that?"

"I was worried. It was an accident but it occurred to me like he actually had a desire to die…"

"It's called passive suicidal ideation."

"Do you really think that House is suicidal?"

"He thinks that he might be and that rangs an alarm bell. What happened was probably just a side effect of Citalopram but I cannot guarantee that the story is not going to repeat itself with TCA. It is considered a good practise to hospitalize patients with suicidal ideations when they fall into one of high risk categories. House meets at least two, namely: sufficient knowledge and access to lethal means and poor social support. "

"Poor social support?"- Wilson considered that as a direct attack. Does she realise how much support is he providing. He spends mre time with House then with his own wife. Maybe becouse she decided to move out to her mother for some time, but still. He was as supportive as he could possibly be.

"He lives alone. He doesn't even have a pet for God sake. You are a great friend but you can hardly count for a well established social support network, can you?"

"Ok, point taken. So how long do you want to keep him in?"

"About two weeks I should say"

"That seems quite a long period of time."

"It takes time for trimipramine to start working properly and during the transition period he needs to be monitored for worsening symptoms of the sort you have seen on Saturday. If I let him loose with a supply of cardiotoxic drug that can potentially make him seriously suicidal I would not be able to sleep at night."

"Do you really care about him that much?"

"I care about all of my patients but I care even more about possibility of malpractice suit."

"Do you think he will get better?"

"Not entirely happy but definitely less miserable. No cure for cynism and misanthropy though. "

"Is there anything else you can offer apart of TCA?"

"Proper pain management and psychotherapy. The first one is in your line of expertise. I cannot stop wondering while are you still prescribing such ridicules doses of Vicodin instead of switching him to Oxycontin for example."

"I tried but he will not take anything else."

"Why am I not suprised- Kate sighted quietly. We can leave it for now. Trimipramine seems to be working nicely as an adjuvant and he is down to 40 mg of Vicodin again. I bet Cuddy is very pleased."

"She was until she discovered that you have admitted him. She thinks that this may harm hospital's reputation."

"Which I am sure House really cares about." – Kate couldn't stop herself from laughing- "Tell her that it's his decision and in my professional opinion a good one. I need to go, my clinic starts in fifteen minutes."

"You know that you are amazing at what you are doing?"

"I like to think that I was given my job because of my extraordinary competences, not because someone on the hospital board took pity on me. " – Kate smiled faintly and started to walk along the wall towards the door. "

"I really appreciate what you have done for him."

"I hope he appreciates at least a little bit what you have been doing for all that time. "


	13. Ouot capitia, tot sententiae

House knocked on Kate's door and was a little surprised by the weak and quite „come in" he got in return. He was even more astonished when instead of Kate he found a little girl sitting at the desk and drawing.

"Hi there. Do you know where dr Robinsky is?"

"Little black box made a noise and she had to go but she promised she will be back before big one is on 12 and small on four" – said Melissa pointing at the clock showing quarter to four

"Her pager went off and she will be back at four o' clock. - House didn't like children. One of the reasons was that they spoke their own, strange language, which some people regarded to be cute. This one at least could be easily understood.

"That's not long from now is it?" – asked Melissa with hope in her voice

"Just 15 minutes. I will go now. Are you alright in here on your own?" – Not that he cared, but if she were a patient it seemed appropriate to ask. It seemed strange that she was left without any adult supervision.

"I'm ok. I will draw some more pictures for Becky when she comes back."

House left the office wondering where that girl came from when he saw Kate walking quickly towards the office.

"Hay, Kate!"

"House? Is something wrong?"

"I am glad to see you too. I had a conversation with dr Cuddy…"

"Do you change your mind about your admission then?"

"No, but she is after you. I came with a warning."

"I will be fine. What she will do? Get me fired? I doubt it."

"Do you often treat children?"

"Almost never. There is too much drawing interpretations to be done in those cases. Why?"

"There is a little girl in your office."

"Melissa. She is my daughter. Babysitter slipped and broke her arm." – Kate sighted. As if she had not enough trouble at work now she had to worry about what to do with Melissa now.

"Becky?"

"Yes. Have you spoken to Melissa?" – Kate was a little surprised.

"Briefly. Are you unhappy about it?"

"Why should I be? She must have told you though that I will be back at four so I need to go. She will get anxious in there if I leave her alone for too long."

Kate was still in her office watching cartoons with Melissa and waiting for the end of her shift at 6 when she heard knocking on the door followed by appearance of dr Cuddy.

"Dr Robinsky! I need to talk with you. Oh, I am sorry. I didn't know you are with a patient." – Cuddy went a tone quieter seeing fear in Melissa's eyes.

"Why is she shouting at you mum? Have you done something wrong"- Melissa whispered quietly into Kate's ear.

"No, don't worry about that bunny. You will have to stay with Gloria for a while though. She has some chocolates for you."

"Excuse me dr Cuddy. It will be a moment."

Kate called the ward and both women waited patiently until Gloria came and took Melissa away.

"Was that your daughter?" – Cuddy was a little taken aback. She would not expect Kate to bring her child to work. She would not expect her to have one in first place. She felt a little jealous, just for a second.

"Yes. However I believe you haven't come all that way to talk with me about failure of my childcare arrangements."

"I want to know if you cannot treat House as outpatient."

"If I could I would do so. It's not like he is the easiest patient to have on a ward."

"People will start to talk for God sake. How we will look employing mentally unstable doctor."

"And how I will look when he kills himself because I had ignored the protocols and prescribed against all rules of best practise and common sense for that meter? I would be looking on loosing me licence."

"He is not going to kill himself for God sake. The son of a bitch loves himself to much to do that. "

"You know him for eight years so I respect your opinion but I do my job for long enough to know that it is very foolish to be ever so sure. I can treat House as outpatient if you can arrange for someone to watch him at his own place over the next two weeks."

"I guess we could arrange for a privete nurse. Do you think that will work?"

"You will have to arrange for fourteen different ones as I bet they won't return after one shift with him. One to one supervision is just too much attention, he is going to kick off in his usual style. I am more then sure about that. You can try though. At the end it's his decision."

"Then you for your time dr Robisky." – Cuddy decided that she is no position to argue. Kate was probably right anyway but she could not bring herself to admit that.

"You are welcome. How is that bake sale going by the way? I could use some extra funds for childcare those days."

* * *

AN: This story is getting much longer then I expected. I have no idea for an ending so I guess I will carry on with the plot for a while. Good to see that some people are still reading. If you read up to 13th chapter there must be something you like about that story so let me know what it is by writing nice, long, detailed review :P. Hint: If the bake sale comment makes no sense you need to watch Maternity episode from season one. 


	14. De actu et visu

"Good morning House, can I have a word?" – Kate was standing next to the nursing station going over the changes in medication's schedules with a nurse when she heard familiar foot steps.

"What's that?"- asked House pointing towards the large Labrador with his cane

"It's a guide dog. They are very clever." – said one of the patients stroking the dog.

"Thank you for alighting me."

"Tom, why don't you give Zoi some water? You know where we keep her bowl." – said Kate in an encouraging tone of voice giving Tom the lead.

"I thought you know the way around your own department."

"I do. Zoi is here to help me during a group therapy session."

"Do you expect me to attend?"

"Most definitely not! One contribution from you and I will have to spend next two weeks explaining to those people what sarcasm is all about and that they are not really worthless. I want you out of here straight after breakfast."

"I don't want breakfast. Hospital food is disgusting."

"Fair enough. You will be in the clinic early and that should keep dr Cuddy happy. Have some of those on your way there." – Kate thrown a packet of dried fruits at House.

"Now you are starting to mother me."

"I have a real kid, no need for a substitute. Consider it as a part of treatment, prophylaxis of hypoglycaemia. When you are not busy hiding from your patients you can feel this one for me" – Kate handed House a piece of paper.

"MPQ? You are not serious!"

"Be honest. All I need to know is the final score." – Kate smiled and walked away carrying a pile of charts and a squeaky toy for Zoi.

As Kate walked past the ladies room later that day she heard someone crying inside. She stopped to listen for a while. Crying did not stop, it was getting louder and louder. She decided to get in and check. She was expecting to find distressed relative or patient or possibly one of her own students as she had handed out feedback forms for that semester.

"Excuse me. Are you hurt? I heard you crying and I though I will check if everything is alright. "

"Nothing is alright!"

"Dr Cameron?" – Kate was surprised. She has spoken with Cameron only once before but she could remember her voice well enough to recognise her. Kate did not get an answer. Cameron was whipping hysterically choking on her own tears.

"You need to calm down. Would you like to come with me?"

"Why?" – Cameron said trying hard to stop crying but she just couldn't

"I have a feeling that you may want to talk with someone but I haven't been counselling anyone in the toilet since my fresher's year at college so maybe we can go to my office."

Cameron stood up slowly and followed Kate. She was still crying although she was trying to keep as quiet as possible not to draw attention of bystanders to herself. When they got to Kate's office she was sat in the chair and offered a cup of hot, strongly smelling liquid.

"What's that?"

"Camomile tea. Hopefully it will prove enough to calm you down a bit."

Kate sat patiently in her chair listening to Cameron sobbing getting quieter and quieter until it finally stopped and was replaced by sounds of nose blowing.

"Ok. Would you like to tell me what was that about?"

"Cindy has died couple of hours ago…"

"I am really sorry. Was Cindy a close friend, sister perhaps?"

"No, she was a patient. I met her couple of months ago in the clinic…"

"What's so special about her?"

"Excuse me?"

"You work in hospital, people die around here all the time but you are not reduced to tears every day. So what was different about Cindy?"

"I don't know. She remained me about…"- Cameron went quiet trying to suppress tears.

"About your husband?"

"Is it what you think?"

"You really want to know what I think?"

"Not particularly. You are going to say something cruel like House when we… had this conversation over dinner."

"I can only imagine what he is able to say on a date. If it touched you so deeply I bet there was some truth in it though. "

"I have calmed down. Thank you for your time but I should be going now."

"Of course, you may wish to arrange an appointment with her though." – Kate gave Cameron a piece of paper with name and telephone number on it written somewhat awkwardly in capital letters.

"Who is she?"

"Psychotherapist. She is rally good in bereavement counselling… and childhood abuse."

When Cameron left Kate took a tape out of her draw and put it on. She was listening over and over again to standard answering machine greating followed by a short massage:

"Hunny, I need to stay at work longer then I planned. Could you arrange for Becky to pick Melissa up? Don't wait with dinner; you know that those faculty meetings can take ages. I love you."

* * *

AN: I don't like this chapter that much. I found it difficult to write Cameron so her lines are not very much in character. I hope it won't bring any flames on. Please review and tell me what you think about this. Any coments welcomed. I am not intendeeing to reduce myself to beging for reviews but as I am almost on my knees at the moment you may take pity and hit that button. ;) 


	15. Nihil fit sine causa

Kate walked up in the on call room on the sound of the pager regretting that she has ever agreed to cover the night shift. What it possibly could be that cannot be managed by resident and experienced nurses? She pressed the button to listen to the massage still lying down:

"I am sorry to disturb you but dr House is causing me a lot of trouble and…"

Kate didn't have to listen to the rest of the massage. She get up and went towards the ward asking herself why she has not listened to Cuddy and wondering what House has managed to come up with that Gloria is unable to solve. On entering the ward she could hear loud conversation between House and resident talking over a patient who was clearly hyperventilating and faintly complying about chest pain.

"Why you do not even consider possibility that it may be organic?"

"Because he was discharged from ER with diagnosis of anxiety attack."

"Those morons in ER cannot even diagnose a nose bleed!" – House was getting really agitated which Kate found somewhat surprising. She wondered since when does he take such a keen interest in welfare of her patients.

"Right! What's going on in here." – Kate decided to take control over the situation then and there before it escalated even further.

"This idiot has misdiagnosed a patient! And he will not listen…"

"I have no obligation to take orders from patients!" - resident shouted almost straight into Kate's ear making her jump. Kate started by approaching the bed, taking patients hand and trying to sound reassuring.

"Don't worry Tom. We are having a little dispute in here but we will figure out how to help you in no time. Dr Simons what's seems to be the problem?"- Kate was trying hard to remain calm for the sake of the terified patient.

"Patient was admitted from ER with diagnosis of anxiety attack…"- dr Simons calmed down a little bit and started to present the case.

"Which is clearly wrong. Those idiots have no idea how to make a correct diagnosis and you are even worse listening to the blindly" – House interrupted

"Did they arrive on this diagnosis after careful examination or did they simply dump him in here after reading in his file that he has been diagnosed with PTSD? Is there a chest film, ECG, anything in his chart?"- asked Kate slightly annoyed

"Nothing but…"

"But you have performed careful clinical examination of this patient before paging me, am I right?"

"They will never admit that they can be wrong until is too late. Just follow protocols, stick to common diagnoses and accuse everyone of being mental or junkie!"

"Dr Simons, have you got a stethoscope on you? Thank you. What's the point of carrying it if you don't make any use of it?" – Kate leaned over the patient performing quick clinical examination.

"Great. Unilateral decreased breath sounds. That's definitely not a symptom of an anxiety attack. Give me a hypodermics needle and gloves, quickly." – said Kate to one of the nurses.

When Kate inserted the needle through patient's chest air come through with loud hiss and patient instantly got visibly more comfortable.

"Spontaneous pneumothorax" –astonished resident muttered under his breath.

"What did I tell you, that could be done long time ago. I bet you could just stand over him until he died convincing him that it is all in his mind!"

"There is a little problem with your lung. That's why it was so difficult for you to breath. Don't worry though we will fix it in no time." – Kate smiled reassuringly to the patient placing oxygen mask over his face and giving some instructions to the nurse.

"I am so sorry doctor Robinsky. I thought that in ER…"

"You should never believe everything you are told. It is your job to reassess the patient properly on admission. Last month they have dumped on me pulmonary embolism claiming that it was all anxiety. Maybe I would believe if not that the patient coded in my office. Now arrange for X-ray and transfer to respiratory ward. I have a feeling that chest drain may be needed. And you come with me." – Kate turned towards House and pulled him gently by the arm walking towards the side room.

"First of all thank you." – Kate said in a soft, calming tone of voice sitting on the bed next to House.

"My job I guess."

"Aha… I just wonder why you are checking on the residents instead of slipping at this time."

"I always used to get up early even before all that started so if you are looking for another symptom of depression, that's not what it is."

"Fair enough. Tell me then what was about that patient that made you get so agitated? I know that dr Simons screw up big time but still…"

"Dr Simons is an idiot. That kid could die in there and he would do nothing. He had no idea and he would not listen. He could at least try to figure out what was going on but he did not give a dam. Just choose an easy option, that's what they always do."

"You know what that was really about, don't you?"

"We both know so why talk about?"

"It may help if you say it loud. Just tell me the story as you told medical students just not in third person this time."

"Before I know it you are going to tell me that I have no right to be angry."

"And who are you really so angry with? Dr Simons? Doctors who were treating you? Yourself for taking so long to figure your own diagnosis? Stacy for betraying your wishes or living you all together? "

"So you know the story in fair detail…"

"From Wilson's perspective. Cuddy had a bit to add as well, I think she feels a bit quality. Not that she is ever going to admit that."

"Tell me your story first?"

"My story?"

"How you ended up blind? Your doctor screwed up big time as well, didn't he?"

Kate hesitated for a moment. She never discussed her own personal problems with patients. She was not entirely sure if she felt comfortable talking about her most painful memories with House but thought that may help the therapeutic relationship. She took a deep breath and started to describe what happened to her almost 10 years ago in calm, monotonous voice.

"It supposed to be a straight forward trans-sphenoidal hypophysectomy to remove the tumour on my pituitary gland. It was benign, nothing to serious but is started to compress on optical nerve and I was getting troubles with my vision. I did not expect any complications; I was due to leave the hospital the next day. When I woke up I could not see a thing. They thought that it may be due to post operative swelling compressing over the visual chiasma. It was supposed to improve in a couple of days but it didn't. They did scans only to find that optic nerve has been damaged… I have been like a little baby. I had problems with everything. Walking was impossible I kept banging into things and could not maintain my balance right. I was too scared to leave home on my own for months. It took long time to learn how to manage every day tasks. I got depressed and got admitted for it. When I was in hospital it occurred to me that I can actually still practice, just need to find right speciality. I have returned to work and started training in psychiatry. I had to learn all over again how to deal with patients and perform procedures. Learning Braille took me ages but I got all those clever devices, which made my life much easier. And of course Zoi, with her I had finally started getting around on my own. Then my daughter was born. It was fine when she was small but when she learned to crawl and would not to be found where I left her… David was doing a great job looking after Melissa. I could not have managed without him…"- Kate's voice broke down.

"Who is David?"

"My husband. He died two years ago in a car crash coming back home from work."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you tall me all that."

"It's ok. It hurts but it hurts more not to talk… You know my sad story. Now it is your turn. I will accept no excuses."

"If you insist... I was playing golf with some of my friends… Why doctors always play golf, it's a bit boring don't you thing? Back to meritum? Ok, I have developed a pain in my leg…"

* * *

AN: I will stop here as we have all seen 3 stories and know what is going to follow. As usual I am asking for reviews. If you like this story and want to read more let me know by submiting a review or otherwise I will stop writing (bagging proved not very successful let's try blackmailing lol). 


	16. Legem nocens veretur fortunam innocens

AN: If you are devoted to House enough to read fan fiction you are probably already used to searching over the Internet for explanation of medical terms. There are some abbreviations used in this story though , which may prove difficult to find so here comes little glossary:

MPQ stands for McGill Pain Questionnaire, which is commonly used for evaluation of chronic pain

PRI is overall pain rating index calculated with MPQ

PPI stands for present pain intensity on the scale 0 to 5.

Have I made you bored before you even started reading? Ok, I will shut up now.

* * *

Kate had a busy day fighting simultaneously with hospital administration and head of ER department. It was late afternoon before she had some free time on her hands to discuss House's discharge with him. She could well leave it until next day but thought that keeping him on the ward even one day longer then necessary is just asking for trouble, especially after what had happened the night before. She decided to page House and arrange for him to come to her office. If she paid a visit to diagnostic department she would be risking coming across dr Cuddy on her way and she felt that this should be avoided at the moment.

"So how is my patient doing?"- House asked in ironic tone of voice entering Kate's office.

"The delay in treatment caused him chest drain insertion and week of holidays on respiratory ward but he will make full recovery."- Kate sighted quietly.

"I heard that he is going to sue the hospital. Simons is suspended and you got some grilling from Cuddy. A bit unfair. From what I have seen your management of the case was pretty good, as for a psychiatrist that is."

"Complement from you? That has definitely made my day. Cuddy is all over me because registrar under my direct supervision misdiagnosed a patient and it took you making a big fuss before Simons paged me. That poses a question whether there is a problem with a working relationship between me and my juniors. There is also a standard question whether patient care was compromised by the fact that I am blind, which is always asked no meter how irrelevant it is."

"You went to talk with that patient against the direct advice of our legal representative."

"Last time I have listened to lawyer's advice it cost four people their lives."

"How come?"- House never had a high opinion about hospital lawyers himself but that seemed like pushing it a bit.

"My patient got a lawyer to prove that I had no grounds for admission and that I was breaking his civil rights. He looked perfectly sane on paper so hospital's legal representative together with my supervisor strongly advised me to discharge him. So I did. Next thing I knew he killed his five, two daughters and finally committed suicide."

"Have you told Stacy that story? I am sure she would love it. So what did you told to, what his name, Tom? How sorry are you for what has happened?"

"Don't be ridicules. I have no reasons to be sorry. I told Tom out of suing dr Simons. He is going to concentrate his efforts on ER department, which is not my problem any more."

"You clearly do not care about your job much, do you?"

"I clearly do not care about making Cuddy or hospital board for that meter happy. If the decide to fire me I can always sue the hospital on the ground of unfair discrimination due to my disability, which would make a nice twist to that whole ridicules story and then accept teaching post at John Hopkins."

"What about Simons?"

"Simons is back to work as from tomorrow. He is going to make it up for me much better by covering all my therapeutic groups instead of enjoying extra holidays while administration runs disciplinary investigation. But anyway, that is not what I want to talk with you about today."

"What is it then? Not the MPQ I hope."

"Now that you have mentioned it we may well discuss it. What's your result?"

"I haven't done it."

"Layer. Nurse saw you do it the other night. Come on, give me the numbers."

"PRI 25. PPI is better in the morning 1 or 2 but gets worse around noon."

"You see it was not that difficult. Can you give worse a number?"

"On most days 3."

"Could be better but we will leave it for now. Is there any chance that I will manage to convince you to visit pain management clinic. I know Wilson has been trying for a good couple of years with no much luck."

"You have discussed that with him?"- House know very well that Kate and Wilson were talking about him behind his back on regular basis, which he found irritating but clearly unavoidable.

"I will use the magic phrase: prescribing physician. As long as he supplies you with Vicodin I am not bound with any confidentiality issues. Now when we have that MPQ out of the way we may get to the main issue. I believe that you are ready to go back home." – Kate went quite letting the information sink in and waiting for reaction.

"Is it because that happened last nigh?"

"Yes and no. I don't really care about the whole incidence yesterday. I was more interested in our conversation afterwards. I am convinced that you do not pose danger to yourself anymore, you have been on trimipramine for over two weeks without any side effects and you seem to be well maintained on the current dose. I have no reason to keep you on the ward any longer. How do you feel about going back home?"

"Ok, I guess. Although it has been much more entertaining in here then I thought it will be."

"Nursing staff and medical students in particular have a little bit different view on it." – Kate laughed loudly thinking about all those desperate memos she has been getting.


	17. Fama nihil est celerius

Wilson was surprised to see Kate in the oncology department. He assumed that she must have been looking for him so he rushed and stopped her next to the elevator.

"Dr Robinsky, have you been looking for me?"

"No." – Kate looked a bit worried and Wilson decided that it will be not very delicate to try and find what sort of reason she may have for a visit if it wasn't that she wanted to talk with him.

„I heard you get yourself into a bit of trouble over that incident last night."

"Some people, namely dr Cuddy, would consider that to be understatement of the year."

"I have noticed before that you and House share some common characteristics but I would never think that tendency to fall with hospital administration is one of them."

"It is a very popular hobby among heads of hospital departments actually. Arguments about money are all time favourites but I personally always go for good malpractice case. If you stick to your job for long enough you will probably discover that them versus us game yourself sooner or later."

"I have enough arguments at home. I come to work for peace and quiet."

"I will pretend that I haven't heard that highly insightful remark. Did you come purely to offer me friendly advice on office politics?"

"I heard you discharged House. Is he really ready or can't you cope with him any longer?"

"He is fine. You owe me 20 bucks by the way."

"You managed to get him do MPQ? What's the score?"- Wilson, totally astonished, reached to his wallet and handed Kate a note. He was absolutely sure that he was going to win that bet.

"Overall 25, PPI ranging from 1 to 3."

"That's really good."

"You call that good? What was his score before I put him on TCA then?"

"No idea, I never managed to get beyond the first couple of questions. I can tell though that PPI was constantly around 3 though getting to 4 if he missed Vicodin dose."

"And it didn't occur to you that it may be a good idea to prescribe an adjuvant or move up the analgesic ladder all together?"

"You think I didn't try?"- annoyence in Wilson's voice was all to clear.

"I'm sorry. I am sure you did. I am getting frustrated, that what it is. This case is starting to get beyond my competences."

"What do you mean? You are doing brilliantly. In one month you have achieved what I was trying to do for the last eight years."

"I have made a good start. I am not pain specialist though."

"You have written a paper on chronic pain management."

"Have you googled me or what? I have designed a questioner for simultaneous assessment of chronic pain and screening for depression. Saves time, pretty good research tool as well. However it hardly proves that I am competent enough to manage naturopathic pain. I know my pharmacology well but last time I had something to do with musculoskeletal anatomy was back in medical school."

"Are you suggesting physiotherapy?"

"I wouldn't go that far. Some of the nurses mentioned to me though that his cane is too short and that he uses it on the wrong site for that meter. If he has been using in that way for eight years there is probably a better reason to it then desire to piss off physiotherapist and I am not going to interfere with that but I guess he could be convinced to get one that is more suitable for his height. Little improvement in the walking technique can go far in terms of pain management."

"Do you think you can convince him?"

"What I need to do is convince him to pay a visit to the rehabilitation department. They will know better what sort of scientific arguments to use."

"He is not very welcomed in there…"

"I can imagine. We will check how far their professionalism can stretch on repeated encounter with House. " – Kate faked an evil laugh and get into the lift waving goodbye to Wilson.

* * *

AN: You have read 17 chapters of that story. You either enjoy it or like to look for spelling and grammar mistakes in other people work ;). Either way it would be nice if you could leave a review. I am not expecting a detailed analysis; even one ward will make my day although the longer the better. For the record: constant asking for reviews is not an attention seeking behaviour lol. 


	18. De fumo in flammam

When House got to Kate office and found Melissa behind the desk he was a little bit less astonished then the first time round. He tried hard to smile and look friendly.

"Hi, Melissa. Where is yourmommy gone?"

Melissa continued to stare at the wall without even turning her head towards House. He backed of the office slightly annoyed bumping into Kate.

"You brought your kid with you again. Everything alright?"- House gave Kate a closer look and noticed that she was pale and looking extremely worried.

"Can we sit down for a second?- Kate asked quietly- I need to compose myself before I go back to Melissa."

"Sure. There are some chairs over there." – House took Kate by her hand and lead her in the right direction.

"This is a social interaction when I tell you what sort of problem I have and you listen pretending to actually care."- Kate gave House a faint smile.

"Like a clinic duty?"- House was not sure how to behave. He was never very good at comforting people so he decided to be the usual sarcastic self. She knew him like that and still decided to share whatever her problem was so she probably did not mind.

"I heard about your clinic duties so I hope there won't be to much analogy. Anyway, remember when I told you that Becky, the babysitter, fall and broke her arm? What do you think when college girl breaks a bone after tripping over and falling on the carpet?"

"Shit."

"Exactly, biopsy results came this morning."

"I am sure Wilson…"

"No, I am arranging for her to be transferred to a hospital closer to home. She is from Wisconsin and her parents and sister still live there. Her best friend is coming after classes but for now I need to go there and try to comfort a very scared and lost girl."

"It's nice that you care so much for an employee."

"Becky is not just an employee. She has been carrying for Melissa for over two years and she is equally important in her live as I am. As David was… Shit, do you know what kind of effect it can have on a child to loose two significant adults in such a short period of time? She will develop sociopathic trait before I know it! Do you ever have a feeling like you have been cursed or something?"

"Pretty much all the time…"

"I will take two weeks holidays to look for a new carer. I have left your prescription with Wilson, by the way. If something happens he knows all to well how to contact me."

"Is there is anything I can do to help?"

"Behave yourself so that I don't get any middle of the night calls from Wilson."- said Kate with a smile. For a bystander conversation they were having would probably appear quite cold and distant but she felt comforted.

"I will try my best. No promises though. Have you told Melissa about Becky?"

"I told her that she is very ill and wants to go home to be with her own mummy until she gets better. She took it reasonably well, I think."

"What are you going to do with her now?"

"Are you offering to baby sit?"

"I'm just saying that she should not be alone and cancer ward is not best place for her to be..."

"Psychiatric ward is not great either."

"We are working on the case. Do you recon that listening to that can be damaging to her psyche or something?"

"Melissa is five years old. She probably won't understand a single word of what is going to be said. Do you really want to take her with you?"

"I will tell my team that she is mine. I want to see look on their faces."

"House!"- Kate was shocked on the idea of Melissa hearing such a thing.

"I will tell them when she is not in the room, don't worry."

"I can't believe I am doing this. - Kate sight quietly- Come on, I will introduce you."- She got up slowly and started walking towards her office.

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AN: So, Kate is leaving, if you want her to come back you better hit that review button. ;)

Big thank you to all of you who have already reviewed. It has been suggested that this story needs a beta. If anyone would like to volunteer for this tedious job, please let me know. Also if there is something that you particulary don't like about the story leave a comment. I like constructive criticism.


	19. Naturae lusus

AN: It's going to be a rather long author's note so feel free to scroll down if you are not interested in what I have to say. As usual, thank you to all those who submitted rewievs-especially to Morrie. Secondly as Zilena asked so nicely translation of chapter's titles is provided below. I wonder sometimes if anyone cares about those titles. It is rather a little, privet creative exercise so just bare with me. I hope that if you stretch your imagination you will see some association between titles and chapters.

11. Inter malleum et incudem – between hammer and anvil

12. Damnat quod non intelligent- if they don't understand they say it's wrong

13. Quot capita, tot sententiae – as many opinions as different people

14. De actu et visu – from pbservation and experience

15. Nihil fit sine causa- nothing happens without a reason

16. Legem nocens veretur fortunam innocens – guilty are afraid of law, innocent of fate

17. Fama nihil est celeries- nothing travels more swiftly than scandal

18. De fumo in flammam- out of the smoke into the flame

19. Naturae lusus- person that is markedly unusual (to avoid term freak)

* * *

When told that she needs to go with House Melissa took his hand in a matter of fact way without a single ward of complain. She was clearly used to being cared for by strangers. Nevertheless when elevator's door closed and Melissa lost sight of Kate she started to look a bit anxious. When they entered the office House could clearly see that he made desired effect by the look on Foreman's faces. Facing three unknown adults Melissa squeezed House's hand even harder and looked up at him for some reassurance.

"Right, Melissa. Those people here are doctors, just like me and your mommy. We have some important things to discuss so I hope you can be quiet. What do you want to do?"

Melissa looked around the office. Lacrosse ball on the table caught her attention but she was always told not to play with those inside. Then she noticed big white board and smiled.

"I want to draw on the board. Please."

Cameron and Foreman exchanged quick looks. House never let them even touch it. They were totally amazed when he draw a vertical line all along his beloved board and then handed Melissa the marker.

"Fine. That side is mine, which means no pretty pictures here. That is yours. Draw whatever you want but don't make a sound."- House then turned his back at Melissa and focused attention on his team.

"We are having an observer today. She is going to write an article to 'Kindergarten's times' about our work so I hope you will show your best. What is the case you have for me then?"

Both Cameron and Foremancontinued to stare at Melissa drawing happily a rather awkward picture of what one could guess was her family.

"Hello! – House snapped his fingers in front of Foreman's face. I thought that the whole conditioning theory is a lot of bullshit but there is clearly something to it. She may be the one writing on the board but I am still the boss."

"Eee, yes sorry. Five months old baby developed unexplained high fever followed by seizures…. – Foreman started to present the case. He was sure that this must be one of those surreal dreams and he is going to wake up any minute now.

"Febrile convulsions, boring!- House interrupted- Is that all?"

"Seizure could be a direct result of high temperature but there is still no explanation for such a pyrexia. She has some signs of hyperparathyroidism and slightly elevated blood glucose. Also hypogammaglobulinemia and abnormally low T4/T8 white blood cell ratio. Before you ask, she tested negative for HIV."

"I assume that you have excluded infection."

"Nothing was found in the cultures apart of Candida."

"Candida… Treat the symptoms, keep child cool and arrange for the family to pay a visit to genetics' clinic."

"Care to explain?" – Foreman looked at House slightly puzzled.

"Not particularly… - House sighted and turned to the board- If you put all those symptoms together you are going to come up with this. I wonder what happened to paediatrics attending by the way. There are usually pretty much on the ball with this kind of little freaks. " – House scribbled APECED across the board.

"Is it some kind of mnemonic?"- Cameron had no idea what to make of the collection of letters on the board.

"No, it's name of a genetic syndrome. Very orginal I must admit. Autoimmune-Polyendocrinopathy-Candidias rings the bell? No, then go and google it. As I am in a mood to teach toaday I will give you a little hint though. Ectodermal Dysplasia is a feature in that syndrome.

"Baby cannot control the fever becouse temerature regulation by sweating is absent."

"Very good Foreman, now go and put her next to the fan or something. Be creative. For you my dear Cameron I have a special task."

"Do you want me to talk with the family?"

"What would be so special about that? You are going to take this little person over there to hospital cafeteria and provide her with some food, drink and entertaimnet."

"Why me?"

"I could take her myself and attrct the attention that I am craving so badly. However my intuition tells me that she is going to enjoy your company much more. I bet you know some ferytiles and stuff. Think, as an added bonus you will be able to find out who she is before you die form the curiosity."

Kate spend a couple of narve wraking hours with Becky trying to consle her without giving any folse promises. She felt guilty to leave her but hoped that friend who just came would be able to offer some comfort aided by sedatives Kate has administred just before she left. Kate knocked on the door and waited for "come in" from inside the office just to set some exaple.

"I will pretend that I am not at all worried by how quiet it is in here."

"I have druged her unconsious with Vicodin. It's how you keep them quiet, isn't it."

"I doubt that you would waste Vicodin like that."

"Cameron took her for lunch. They should be back in a minute."

"Thank you. I somehow didn't expect the favour."

"I like to surprize.


	20. Contra spem spero

AN: For those who might have been waiting for an update, sorry it took so long. Good news is that my story is now benefiting from a beta reader- thank you so much **Nikelodean** – for even better quality of experience for the rest of you.

* * *

Kate hung up the phone after yet another fruitless conversation with a babysitting agency. She was looking up another phone number to dial when phone rang rather unexpectedly. Kate picked up hoping that one of the agencies she called before managed to find someone willing to do sleepovers.

"Dr. Robinky speaking."

"It's Wilson. I have results of Becky's CT scan and I thought you may wish to know..."

"You are not going to tell me that you have found metastasis, are you?"

"No. I am actually calling with good news. The tumour is localized to the bone and it looks like it can be treated with chemotherapy and limb-salvage surgery. She had an awful lot of luck to trip over that rug of yours. If she hadn't, she would have gone for much longer without any symptoms and you know what that would lead to."

"Thanks God for small favours, ha? How about the chemo?"

"Well, she is not going to escape that. Probably it will be vincristine with methotrexate and leucovorin, before and after surgery. Decision is up to the oncology team in Madison, though. I have faxed them all the test results and they are ready to take her any time."

"Can you give Becky clearance to fly?"

"I see no problems with that. After all, a couple of days ago she was regarded as completely healthy. Do you think she will be alright to fly on her own, though, psychologically speaking?"

"Her sister is coming over. She will help Becky with packing and other arrangements and then they will fly back together, so that is all sorted out."

"I will make sure that she takes all the films and other documentation with her when she is discharged."

"Thanks a lot, I know you had a close eye on Becky's case and I am grateful for that."

"I kind of owe you that, don't you think?"

"You don't owe me anything. If someone does, it's House and he already returned the favour."

"I heard something about that. I didn't believe it at first when Foreman told me that he turned up at the meeting with a kid. Was he okay as a babysitter?"

"Fantastic. He and Cameron set such high standards that I am struggling to find someone who can compete with that. I am, in fact, in the process of calling some agencies so if you…"

"May I ask for your professional opinion about something?"- Wilson interrupted, recognising that Kate was getting ready to hang up.

"Any time. What is it?"

"What do you think about marital counselling? Does it work?"

"Are we talking statistics in here or do you want me to tell whether it is going to work for you and your wife?"

"Well… ehm…"

"I know very little about your private life and I would like to keep it that way, to be honest, but we can talk about some general truths. It can work if both partners want it to work and engage in the treatment process. It is time consuming and requires a lot of effort, though."

"My wife thinks we should give it a go, but I am not sure if we need it."

"As I said, I don't want to get involved and it is not up to me to decide whether you need it or not. If you really want me to give you a little insight… You have been divorced twice, this is your third marriage and you seem to be spending much more time at work or with House, for that matter, then at home with your wife. That is either a sign of workaholic-ism or problems within your marriage. Whether you solve it on your own, try some counselling or go for a third divorce is entirely up to you, but you know that problems do not tend to disappear just because we pretend that they are not there."

"Great, now you are telling me that not only it is all my fault, but also that I am in denial about it!"- Wilson did not even try to hide his annoyance.

"You asked psychiatrist for a professional opinion, what else did you expect?"- Kate decided to turn the whole thing into a joke, her favourite way of avoiding serious discussions.

"You are right. I'm sorry. Any idea where I can find good marital counsellor then?"

"I will fax you a list."

Kate put the phone down and started to wonder where exactly her contract mentioned fixing the lives of half of the staff at PPTH as one of the regular duties. She sighed and returned to the list of agencies yet to be called.


	21. Valetudo bonum optimum

Kate managed to find new babysitter in four days time but she decided not to return to work for two whole weeks just to make sure the new sitter knew the ropes and that Melissa was comfortable with her. Upon her return, she was faced with tone of paper work and endless memos from attendings and residents. Her calendar was full as most of her patients' appointments were simply moved forward and not taken care of by other psychiatrists, although Dr. Simons took all the urgent cases and therapeutic groups without a word of complain even if that meant working around the clock on some days. Kate smiled to herself, wondering how long she will be able to use his guilty conscious over the pneumothorax case to get things done. Kate listened to the list of patients to be seen that day and she was surprised by the fact that House has actually made an appointment instead of wandering into her office at whatever time suited him. The mystery was resolved by a memo from Wilson, stating that he made the appointment but could not guarantee that House would actually come, so he apologized beforehand.

House turned up in the afternoon, half an hour late, and Kate appreciated Wilson's forethought in booking his friend on the last available slot that day so that she had no other patients after him. Kate's main efforts were concentrating on convincing House that he needed a better pain management plan including physiotherapy and a more sensible medication than Vicodin. They were having a heated discussion over the pros and cons of Oxycodone when Kate realised that House sounded a bit odd to her. He seemed to have difficulty finishing longer sentences.

"Are you feeling alright? You seem a bit short of breath"

"I'm fine." Kate didn't expect any other answer but she could hear clearly a very faint and somehow suppressed cough that followed.

"Let me check", said Kate taking a stethoscope out of her drawer and waiting a minute before approaching House to let him come to terms with what she was going to do.

"You must be joking. Do you really miss internal medicine that much?"

"I think that the topic of our next insightful session will be why do you have so much trouble admitting it when you need help", Kate sighed. "Take off your shirt, I am not going to look, promise."

"It's cold." House backed off the second the stethoscope touched his skin.

"For God's sake, you are worse than a five-year-old." – Kate warmed the instrument in her hand and tried again. "Now be quiet for a second and take a nice deep breath."

Kate listened to the House's lungs for a couple of minutes and then started tapping over his chest. House could see that she was getting concerned. He really wanted to shake her away but suddenly felt too tired to do so. He didn't oppose her putting hands on his back.

"Say blue moon."

"Ninety-nine. Ninety-nine. Ninety-nine…" House kept repeating until she took her hands away, thinking that she clearly had not done many chest examinations since her residency as she was taking the methodical approach typical for junior doctors. He was wondering what the hell she has heard in there to make her do such a scrupulous examination.

"Can you whisper ninety-nine?"

"Would you back off?" House said in a quiet voice.

"Close enough for me." Kate smiled and put the stethoscope around her neck. "Tactile fremitus is increased. On auscultation, there are loud crackles on inspiration. Percussion reveals that the left side is totally dull. Text book case of pneumonia, even a psychiatrist can figure that out."

"No way! I don't even have fever." House was annoyed. Not that he thought Kate was wrong; he was sure that what she heard was accurate. He was angry with himself for letting her listen in first place as he was sure that she was going to form a united front with Wilson and he would find himself in hospital bed in no time.

"You must be joking! With those levels of acetaminophen in your system? Let's take the Vicodin away and I bet you'd hit 102° in no time. I'm calling Wilson."

"What for? Can't you just prescribe some antibiotics?"

"You need a chest film and I am not very good at interpreting those."

"I'm going home. I'll ask Wilson to prescribe some Augmentin on my way out." House stood up and suddenly felt very light-headed and fell forward, grabbing Kate's arm for support. That was something she did not expect, but she managed to get her balance right quickly enough to prevent them both landing on the floor.

"Easy now… Are you ok?"

"I guess so."

"Good! Now sit down in that damn chair and do not even dream of moving before Wilson gets here." Kate was irritated, mainly by the fact that bearing House's weight for that split second was enough to give her some pain in the lower back, not to mention the arm.

Wilson got Kate's message on the pager and excused himself from the staff meeting in oncology department. He was now walking along the corridor quickly wondering what the hell House got himself into this time.

"What's going on in here?"

"House has pneumonia and I think he needs to be admitted. No need in saying that he has slightly different opinion on that matter."

"Are you sure it's pneumonia?" Wilson was a bit sceptical.

"Crackles are loud enough to be heard by a lay person. Increased fremitus, dullness and all-time favourite whispered pectoriloquy indicate that there is already some considerable consolidation." Kate recited long list of symptoms with some resignation in her voice. She felt a bit as if she was a resident again.

"I have been with him all day. Not a single cough!"

"Hydrocodone suppresses the cough reflex." House said faintly, looking at Wilson getting furious.

"I don't believe this. House, you are impossible. You must how known all the time. How long have you been planning to pretend that everything is all right?"

"It's nothing. Will you stop getting all worked up?"

"You need a chest X-ray and intravenous antibiotics. I am admitting you to…"

"You are not!"

"Have you got a death wish or something?"

"That sounds more like my area of expertise, don't you think?", Kate interrupted and smiled at Wilson. "House, we both know that you are not stupid and will do what is necessary, but if you really need to tease Wilson beforehand, could you please do it outside my office, preferably on your way to the radiology department!"

"You are kicking me out. Have I finally managed to annoy you?"

"You managed to do that when we first met in ER, but now you have reached the ultimate level of annoyance when I actually let it show. Plus, if I don't kick you out soon, we will have to deal with hypoxia in my office and it is not exactly equipped for that."

* * *

AN: I have finally committed a chapter with the cliché "House is getting ill." I hope you can bare with that. Another thing, there is quite a lot of jargon in that chapter, hope you don't mind and if you do just skip those bits. Finally please review. It is important to me to know what you think so if you read it and want to read some more let me now. If you read it and hate it badly let me know as well. 


	22. Tantum possumus, quantum scimus

AN: It took me ages to update so if somone was waiting for next chapter, I am sorry about that.Write a review and maybe the next one will come faster ;). To answer an anonymous question left in reviews: sometimes you make people say blue moon or ninety nine or other suitable fraze during chest examination you also ask them to whisper when listeningfor some specific things. Consolidation of the lungs alows for great transmission of high-pitched sounds so you can clearly hear what is being whispered when listening to the chest, pretty cool effect bad news for the patient though. Sonorous sounds such as 99 are normaly well transmited and produce a vibration that can be felt if you put your hands on somones back but if there is consolidation or fluid the vibration is reduced.Ithink you can guess now,mastering of which clinical skill have kept me away fromwriting my fan fiction. Answers on postcards ;). Right, time to shut up...

* * *

"You got the X-ray, what else do you want? There is no need for me to stay in here! Give me my tablets back and let me go." House tried to pull himself up to get out of hospital bed but Wilson was holding him down, getting more and more frustrated by the minute, and hoping that Kate got his message and come. He was tired of caring for House, tired of the responsibility.

"You are going nowhere!" Wilson kept looking House in the eyes hoping that he would give up fighting. There was no way he could let him go home, but what else he could do?

"Let go of me!" House was too weak to physically fight Wilson and he knew it. He also knew that Wilson would never bring himself to restrain him. If necessary he would steal IV antibiotics and oxygen from hospital supply and stay with him at home all night but he would not admit him against his will. That was the difference between Wilson and Kate. Kate would do what was right and practical. She had little consideration for how angry he could be with her afterwards.

"House, calm down for God's sake!"

Kate was standing in the door listening to Wilson shouting. She was initially surprised when he paged her asking if she could come and help him since she expected him to be perfectly capable of managing House on his own. What he could possibly want from her? Kate noticed before that Wilson had problems sometimes with making sound clinical judgments when it came to House, but what she was hearing now was rather unusual. Whether Wilson was just very worried or his personal problems were getting in the way, she did not know. She was waiting for a suitable moment to interrupt when Wilson turned around, sensing that someone was present in the room.

"How long have you been standing there?", he asked quietly, turning red and happy for a second that Kate could not see how embarrassed he was about what had happened.

"Long enough to notice that this discussion is not getting very far… Stop fighting him, it just makes it worse… "

"Oh great, now Kate is here. Are you going to lock me up again? Is it why you paged her, Wilson?"

"Is it?" Kate turned towards Wilson.

"I had hoped that you can reason with him, but if…"- Wilson went quiet, thinking about what he really wanted from Kate. Did he want her to share the responsibility with him? Did he want her to take it all on herself as she did when she decided to admit House. Kate could easily manipulate the records and probably find a justification for admission this time, as well, since in her field almost any decision was based solely on clinician's discretion, but he felt that she is not going to do it.

"Can I ever?" Kate sighted quietly.

Kate walked across the room and felt for a chair next to the bed. When she did not find one she pointed toward the edge of the bed and asked House if minded her sitting down.

"Nurses will go ballistic if they catch you sitting on the bed." Wilson pointed out.

"Don't make me laugh. When nurses finish tearing you apart for treating House on the ward for over an hour in his own clothes and without even attempting to check him in properly, they will hardly have any energy left to have a go at me."

"Over that hour I haven't quite managed to convince him to stay…"

"Why am I not surprised? Go and explain the situation to them since they are already getting angry. We will need them happy and cooperative if House is going to stay or it'll be hell for everyone involved."

Kate waited for Wilson to leave and then turned towards House.

"Imagine a patient in your state turns up in the clinic. On being told that he needs to be admitted he throws a tantrum and self-discharges. What would you call him?"

"Is this a trick question? All right… I would call him an idiot wasting my valuable time. Fits the profile of most clinic patients perfectly."

"So what makes you apply different standards to yourself?"

"I never said I do…"

"At least we have that one clear... Would you tell me, then, why have you decided to drive your best and only friend crazy when all is he trying to do is help? Oh, wait. Help, that's the buzz word, isn't it? If you fight him hard enough, you won't have to admit to yourself that you actually need any help. You'll receive it, but only because it's forced on you. No need to accept it or, God forbid, ask for it. Is that what this is all about or have I missed something?"

"You think that's what this is? You think you know it all?"

"No. I am just saying that I know what this is all about. But, if I'm wrong you may wish to enlighten me."

"Ok, you're pretty much right. I don't want help … from any one… and that includes you. Are you happy now? I don't want to … talk about it."

"We don't need to talk about anything at all. Just let Wilson do his job."

"Wilson took away my Vicodin…"

"What made him come to his senses so suddenly? Is he worried about respiratory depression?"

"He is always worried! Worried or caring or both at the same time."

"You know damn well that he has a point there." Kate paused for a moment before she asked, trying hard not to make what she had to say sound as an accusation. "Why are you so stubborn, House? You know that you will have to stay overnight, so just let us deal with it. It's not such a big deal."

"Maybe for you. I want my tablets back."

"I will talk with Wilson providing that he is still alive after the nurses finish with him. Don't you wonder, though, why you want them? You can stick easily to the prescribed dose, so I assume that you stick to the correct time intervals as well."

"He doesn't trust that I can…"

"I somehow can't blame him, to be honest…"

"Have you managed to reach a consensus?" Wilson asked from the door as he came in, bringing a chair for Kate with him.

"I'll stay but just for one night…"

"Well done, Kate. I am most impressed with your persuasive skills."

"They don't come cheap. Expect the invoice in the post in couple of days time." Kate laughed.

"Great. I'll organize the antibiotics infusion and find a nurse to help you get changed. I need to call my wife and let her know that I will be staying here for the night…"

"Go home. I'll stick around and make sure that no one gets killed."

"What about Melissa? It's fine, my wife doesn't really expect me back anyway…"

"I though you have been working things out… I've taken two weeks holidays outside the schedule and as a result, I am on call virtually for the rest of my life. Melissa is sleeping over at her friend's house tonight so you don't need to worry about her. Unless it is only another excuse not to go home…"

"Fine. I set things up with the nurses. I will see you both in the morning."

"I don't need a baby sitter!"

"Don't worry. You're not going to see much of me even if you wanted to. I'm covering the ER. It's Saturday and full moon so I will be kept busy all night convincing people that they are not werewolves or dealing with intoxicated teenagers with help of a brand new colleague who doesn't even know the ropes. I will leave my pager number in your chart just in case you run into trouble with your nurse or the resident on call but please just try to get some sleep…"


	23. Audaces fortuna iuvat

AN: Another chapter. Let's check if someone is still reading this. I still have no idea how to bring this story to an end so it is either going to continue on slow pace as I add chapters now and then when I have some spare time or die abruptly if none reads it any more. Yes it is a big hint that if you still reading and enjoying it you should let me know by submitting a review :P.

* * *

"Someone paged me?" Kate had mixed feelings. On one hand she was happy to get out of ER. She would never admit it, but she was finding the busy, ever-changing environment downstairs scary and overwhelming. At the same time, she knew that if she was paged to come up it, meant that there was some trouble with House. Kate was hoping that he was simply getting in everyone's nerves, but she had a feeling that it may not be the case.

"Dr Robinsky? I am so sorry to bother you. I have been trying to page my resident but he does not respond and I was not sure if it is serious enough to call the attending and the nurse..." the intern seemed to be a bit overwhelmed with the situation. It was his first night, he was not supposed to be alone and make decisions… and his patient was the head of one of the hospital's departments…if he were to screw this one up…

"What seems to be the problem?" Kate walked towards the voice.

"I am not sure, he appears altered to me…" the intern was looking at Kate with increasing panic as he realised that she was blind and her hospital badge said "psychiatric department". There was no way she could help him with that one.

"And you are?"

"Smith. I'm a new intern…"

"You've picked the best time to be ill. New kids on the block..." Kate walked to the bed concerned, as she could hear laboured breathing, and touched House's shoulder. "Hey, are you still with us?"

"I think he opened his eyes" the intern was not sure how to behave but decided to provide Kate with a running commentary just in case that was something she expected or needed.

"You know this is not good enough for me. I need some sort of verbal response, come on…" Kate smiled faintly reassured already that House is still conscious.

"I donna… wanna… Go away…" House slowly became aware of Kate's presence. She was a welcome addition to the intern, who clearly had no idea what he was doing. House was not sure, though, if she would be able to help. Where was that damn resident? Something was telling him that he pushed it to far this time. Probably the fact that it was so hard to breath. It was almost as if he was drowning. Would they need to intubate? He didn't want that.

"What made you think he is altered?" Kate turned to the intern, listening to House's chest at the same time. She didn't like what she heard and she could have sworn it was worse than just a couple of hours before.

"He was thrashing all over the place, pulling on everything. Took his IV line out…"

"That sounds like his baseline…" a sarcastic smile appeared on Kate's face. Have you given him anything?"

"No, he has calmed down on his own just a couple of minutes ago."

"Well, that is worrying. What's the pulse ox?"

"I told you, he keeps pulling on the sensor, I cannot get the readings!"

"Let's try again, shall we?"

The nurse put the sensor back on House's finger and he didn't seem to notice.

"What's the reading?"

"85"

"No wonder he calmed down. Nurse, 4 L of oxygen by mask. Start a slow infusion of 4mg Doxapram. You, find me that damn resident, or even better, call the attending."

"Is it that serious?" The poor intern was not sure whether he should listen to her. She was just a psychiatrist after all. On the other hand, an attending is an attending, no matter from which department they come.

"How can I know, I am only a psychiatrist. We will try to bring the patient around and ask him. He is a better doctor."

"You are joking, are you?" That was creepy, almost as she was able to read his mind

"Nurse, sit him up and forward as much as possible. You know, bed side table and the pillow trick. What's the pulse ox reading?"

"Still 85."

"Can you intubate?" Kate asked the intern quietly knowing that if it came to serious respiratory distress she would be unable to do anything.

"With supervision…" the intern looked at Kate, scared. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing for now, but legally she could not supervise a procedure that she was unable to perform. He felt like running down a corridor and screaming for help until he could get another doctor in here. He paged the resident yet again with his hands shaking.

"No…", House whispered and then grabbed Kate's wrist to get the attention.

"Ow! House, I got the message. I am not going to shuffle that tube down your throat unless absolutely necessary. Actually, I can't do it even then and you damn well know it, so let go." Kate could feel House's grip getting tighter and she thought about all those patients who happened to have a seizure while holding someone's hand, which resulted in bones being broken. 'He can't be that hypoxic… shit, Doxapram can cause muscle spasms and seizures!' Thoughts were going through Kate's head at extra speed when she was trying to free her hand, "House, that hurts!"

"I'm sorry", he suddenly let go feeling much more awake and alert about what was going on. He realised that he was breathing really deeply without realising it. Seconds later he had a sudden urge to cough. That was something he did not expect, a deep, painful cough, right from the bottom of his lungs, bringing up abundant sputum and making him feel sick. He tried to stop, but once the coughing fit started he couldn't control it in any way.

"What's going on? This IV just made him worse", the intern was getting into a panic mode.

"Cough reflex is clearly back. Nurse, can we get a sample of that sputum, stop the infusion and take the vitals?" Kate smiled for a second happy that her plan worked and at the same time wondering how is she going to explain herself to the attending after administering a drug against contraindications.

"What the hell is that?" The intern was looking at the plastic jar full of dark, bloody sputum.

""Klebsiella…" House wiped his mouth and gave the jar a long careful look. It definitely fit the clinical picture. Kate was right about the consolidation and about everything else. He realised that when she was taking so long to examine him earlier, it was not because of lack of confidence but rather a sign of expertise. She must have known exactly what she was looking at and that is why she insisted on the chest film so firmly. House saw early a sign of bulging fissure on his previous film, but as it was small enough to be missed by Wilson, he just ignored it. Big mistake…

"Black, currant jelly sputum? Classic… Order a new chest film, you'll probably find a bulging fissure sign and, if Dr. House is as unlucky as he is stubborn, an abscess and cavitation." Kate offered an explanation to the intern and then turned towards House. "That is definitely something that you could treat with Augmentin at home!"

"Are you expecting me to thank you?" House managed to deliver one angry sentence just before another coughing fit began.

"That would be pushing it. I am perfectly satisfied with my little 'I told you so'." Kate was still worried but tried not to show it.

When Dr. Mayers, respiratory attending, entered the room, he gave Kate a careful look, then recognised House and let out a long and loud sigh as he grabbed the chart.

"Shall I open a mini-clinic in your department? I seem to get an awful lot of your patients in here lately." Mayers turned to Kate with rather annoyed expression at his face.

"I will stop diagnosing TB in homeless schizophrenics as soon as I get myself out of ER duty, if that is what you are referring to. Dr House in here is patient of Dr. Wilson. I was just paying a friendly visit when I came across your intern left all on his own."

"When I find my resident, he'd better be lying at the bottom of the staircase with his pager out of reach. Could you possibly explain to me why the hell you've put him on Doxapram?" Mayers gave Kate an angry look, handing the chart back to the intern.

"I wanted the cough reflex back before he drew in his own secretions. Seemed reasonable at the time and Doxapram was first thing that sprang to my mind. Catchy name and all…" Kate knew that it was coming.

"Why not Naloxon, for God's sake? Why risk all the side effects?" Mayers was now shouting.

" Fck off…" House sat up in his bed looking Mayers straight in the eyes.

"I thought that it will be nice to choose something that can antagonise the respiratory depressant effects of Vicodin without inhibition of its analgesic properties. You know how soft I am when it comes to inflicting agonizing pain."- Kate decided that it is a time for a reasonable explanation before Mayers decides to drag her in from of some sort of committee accusing her of negligence.

"Fair enough. So what do you want me to do now?"

"Preferably take over so that I can go back down to mind my own business. I'll look out for a resident with broken legs for you." Kate turned her back on Mayers and left the room.

"You two know each other. For quite some time…" House continued to look at Mayers who was now writing orders for a new chest film and antibiotics.

"We were doing our residency together. She was on a double speciality in internal and respiratory medicine. The best from our year… Shame what happened to her but she didn't change much, annoying as always…"

"Small world…" House could feel that Doxapram was starting to wear off and his breathing was getting shallow again. Thankfully the drowning sensation was gone. He winced and closed his eyes as the intern took a sample for an ABG.


End file.
